Vacuum storage system

ABSTRACT

A vacuum storage system ( 40 ) for storing an article, comprises a sealable outer chamber ( 30 ) and a sealable inner chamber ( 20 ). The sealable outer chamber ( 30 ) has an evacuation valve ( 21 ) for connection to a suction device for evacuation of said outer chamber ( 30 ). The sealable inner chamber ( 20 ) is adapted to receive said article, and has a one-way valve ( 13 ) in communication with the outer chamber ( 30 ). The one-way valve ( 13 ) is adapted to open upon the application of suction to the outer chamber ( 30 ), thereby to enable evacuation of said inner chamber ( 20 ), but to close upon discontinuation of said suction.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing an article. In particular, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing an article of medical equipment, such as a flexible medical endoscope, in a state of high level disinfection following processing (cleaning and disinfection) thereof. However, it is envisaged that the method and apparatus of the present invention may find use in the storage of a wide range of articles, such as museum artefacts, botanical samples, or indeed any other articles for which storage in a reduced oxygen atmosphere would be beneficial.

The term “disinfection” is used herein in preference to the term “sterility” since the latter implies the complete absence of pathogenic organisms, which in practice is rarely, if ever, achievable. It is to be appreciated however that the ultimate aim of disinfecting medical equipment is indeed to get as close to absolute sterility as is practicable. The terms “vacuum”, “evacuation”, “evacuate” and “evacuated” as used herein should be understood in their everyday sense to mean a partial vacuum such as can readily be achieved with standard commercial or laboratory equipment.

The present invention has been developed particularly for use in connection with the storage of flexible medical endoscopes in a state of high level disinfection following processing (cleaning and disinfection), and therefore will be described herein with particular emphasis on this application. It is envisaged however, that the method of the present invention may be utilised for the storage of substantially all types of medical, surgical, dental and veterinary equipment, apparatus, and instruments, and indeed in other applications outside the medical field, such as museum artefacts, botanical samples, or any other articles where storage in an evacuated container or a reduced oxygen atmosphere may be desirable.

After use in an endoscopic procedure, flexible medical endoscopes are usually subjected to “processing”, consisting of rigorous manual cleaning followed by placing the endoscope in an Automated Endoscope Re-processor (AER) which effects a further cleaning and disinfecting procedure to bring the endoscope to High Level Disinfection Status (HLDS). The endoscope must then be stored in a clean environment. Under normal storage conditions, the degree of disinfection of the endoscope can only be maintained at an acceptable level for a relatively short period, usually about 3 hours. This is due to the multiplication of residual pathogens which may remain on the endoscope after disinfection, or which may be present in the atmosphere. If the endoscope is not used in a further endoscopic procedure within this time, then further processing will be necessary prior to its next use.

Frequent and repeated processing is undesirable, since it reduces the availability of the endoscope for endoscopic procedures, whilst increasing the operating costs, due to the need for cleaning and disinfectant materials and the operation of cleaning equipment. Furthermore, repeated processing reduces the lifetime of the endoscope due to wear and tear.

In view of the above, attempts have been made to prolong the length of time for which a processed endoscope can be stored in a viable HLDS condition. One approach which has proved successful to some degree is to store the endoscope in an evacuated chamber, such as a vacuum storage pouch or bag. This deprives aerobic micro-organisms within the chamber of the oxygen they require in order to multiply, though since total evacuation of the chamber cannot practically be achieved, it is not possible totally to prevent the growth of aerobic micro-organisms. Nevertheless, the length of time for which a processed endoscope can be stored in a viable HLDS condition can be appreciably extended by such methods. Methods and apparatus involving the prolonged storage of an endoscope in an evacuated chamber are disclosed in the Applicant's own International Patent Publications Nos. WO 2007/049076, WO 2010/046617 and WO 2012/035313.

In a clinical environment, the quality of the partial vacuum achieved will generally be restricted to a low to medium vacuum (100 kPa to 1 kPa) by the limitations of the standard commercial or laboratory evacuation equipment utilised, as well as the physical properties of the evacuation chamber. In view of these constraints, the integrity of the seal by which the evacuation chamber is closed becomes a major factor in determining the extent to which the viable storage time of an endoscope can be prolonged. This is of particular concern when utilising standard vacuum storage bags of flexible pouch construction, as the zip seals on such bags tend to fail or leak after a period of time, thus compromising the high level disinfection status of the endoscope.

The present invention seeks to address the above issue by providing a vacuum storage system incorporating a fail-safe arrangement such that the vacuum within the storage chamber is maintained even if the integrity of the seal if compromised.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a vacuum storage system for storing an article, comprising:

-   -   a sealable outer chamber, having an evacuation valve for         connection to a suction device for evacuation of said outer         chamber; and     -   a sealable inner chamber adapted to receive said article, and         having a one-way valve in communication with the outer chamber,         said one-way valve being adapted to open upon the application of         suction to the outer chamber, thereby to enable evacuation of         said inner chamber, but to close upon discontinuation of said         suction.

The article to be stored may be an article of medical equipment, such as a flexible medical endoscope.

The inner chamber may itself be a flexible pouch or bag. However, it is much preferred that the inner chamber comprises a tray and a lid, preferably of generally rigid construction. The one-way valve is preferably formed in the lid.

A gasket seal is preferably provided between the tray and the lid. The gasket seal is preferably housed in the lid and arranged to extend around the perimeter of the tray, when the lid and tray are engaged. Upon evacuation of the system, the lid is urged onto the tray, thus compressing the gasket seal to seal the inner chamber.

The interior of the tray may be desirably be shaped or sculpted so as securely to house the article to be stored. This may be take the form of upstanding elements arranged to embrace and protect an article, or parts of an article, such as the coils of a flexible medical endoscope.

The outer chamber preferably comprises a flexible pouch or bag, having an opening to enable insertion of the inner chamber. The opening is preferably provided with a zip seal and/or an adhesive seal. An evacuation valve, adapted for connection to a suction device, is provided in one wall of the pouch. The evacuation valve may itself be a one-way valve.

In use, evacuation of the outer chamber pouch causes the one-way valve in the tray lid to open, thus enabling evacuation of the inner chamber. Evacuation of the outer chamber pouch also causes the pouch to urge the lid onto the tray, thus causing compression of the gasket seal, and so sealing the inner chamber.

The inner and outer chamber are preferably both transparent, to enable the contents of the vacuum storage system to be conveniently viewed.

In order further to enhance the efficiency of the storage system according to the first aspect of the present invention, an oxygen scavenging agent may optionally be provided within the inner chamber, as further to reduce the oxygen content of the atmosphere in which the article is stored.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of storing an article utilising a vacuum storage system as hereinbefore described, comprising the steps of:

-   -   inserting the article to be stored into the inner chamber of         said vacuum storage system;     -   sealing the inner chamber;     -   inserting the inner chamber into the outer chamber of said         vacuum storage system;     -   sealing the outer chamber;     -   connecting the evacuation valve of the outer chamber to a         suction device;     -   activating the suction device so as to evacuate the outer         chamber, thereby to cause the one-way valve of the inner chamber         to open, so as also to evacuate the inner chamber;     -   deactivating the suction device so as to close the one-way         valve, thus isolating the article in the evacuated inner         chamber; and     -   closing the evacuation valve, thus isolating the inner chamber         in the evacuated outer chamber.

In order further to enhance the efficiency of the storage method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the method may optionally include an additional step of providing an oxygen scavenging agent within the inner chamber, as further to reduce the oxygen content of the atmosphere in which the article is stored.

In order that the present invention may be more clearly understood, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described in detail, though only by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a tray, constituting a first part of an inner chamber of a preferred embodiment of vacuum storage system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a lid, constituting a second part of the inner chamber;

FIG. 3 shows the tray of FIG. 1 combined with the lid of FIG. 2 to form the inner chamber;

FIG. 4 shows a flexible pouch, constituting an outer chamber of the vacuum storage system;

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the inner chamber of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged detail of the inner chamber of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows the inner chamber of FIG. 3 being inserted into the outer chamber of FIG. 4, to form the vacuum storage system of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 shows the inner chamber of FIG. 3 and outer chamber of FIG. 4 combined to form the vacuum storage system of the present invention, in the process of being evacuated.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a tray 10 of generally rigid construction, constituting a first part of an inner chamber of a preferred embodiment of vacuum storage system according to a first aspect of the present invention. The tray 10 is shaped and sculpted with upstanding elements 11 arranged to embrace and protect the coils of a flexible medical endoscope (not shown) when stored therein.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a lid 12, constituting a second part of the inner chamber of the vacuum storage system according to the present invention. The lid 12 is also of generally rigid construction, and is of complementary size and shape to the tray 10, and adapted to engage therewith. The lid 12 has a one-way valve 13 formed therein to enable evacuation of the inner chamber, as will be described in more detail below. The lid 12 is transparent, to enable the contents of the inner chamber to be viewed, and has finger grips 14 to facilitate removal of the lid 12 from the tray 10 after use.

Referring now to FIG. 3, this shows the lid 12 engaged with the tray 10 in order to form a sealable inner chamber, generally indicated 20, of a vacuum storage system according to the present invention. The one-way valve 13 now communicates with the air-space within the chamber 20, as defined by the lid 12 and tray 10.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a flexible pouch 16 constituting a sealable outer chamber 30 of the vacuum storage system according to the present invention. As with the lid 12, the pouch 16 is transparent to enable the contents to be viewed. The pouch 16 has an opening 17, to enable insertion of the inner chamber 20, provided with a double zip seal 18 and an adhesive seal 19. An evacuation valve 21, adapted for connection to a suction device (not shown) for evacuation of the pouch 16, is provided in one wall thereof.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, there are shown cross-sectional views of the inner chamber 20, comprising the tray 10 and the lid 12. FIG. 6 shows an enlarged detail of the circled area of FIG. 5. As can be seen, the tray 10 is formed with a rim 22 defining the periphery thereof. The lid 12 is formed with a lip 23 of complementary size and shape to the tray rim 22, extending around the periphery of the lid 12, and adapted to engage with the tray rim 22. A gasket seal 24 is housed within the lid lip 23, and also extends around the periphery of the lid 12. When the lid 12 is engaged with the tray 10, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the gasket seal 24 is compressed, to seal the inner chamber 20.

Referring now to FIG. 7, this shows the inner chamber 20, comprising the tray 10 and lid 12 engaged therewith, being inserted into the flexible pouch 16 constituting the outer chamber 30. This is done via the opening 17 in the pouch 16, which is subsequently sealed with the double zip seal 18 and adhesive seal 19.

Referring now to FIG. 8, this shows the inner chamber 20 now fully housed within the outer chamber 30, to form a vacuum storage system, generally indicated 40, according to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention. The system 40 is now ready for evacuation, by connecting the evacuation valve 21 to a suction device (not shown).

A method, according to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, of storing a flexible medical endoscope in the vacuum storage system 40, according to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

A flexible medical endoscope (not shown) is placed in the tray 10, as shown in FIG. 1. The endoscope is arranged such that its coils are embraced and protected by the upstanding elements 11. The lid 12, as shown in FIG. 2, is then placed on top of the tray 10, with the lid lip 23 engaging with the tray rim 22, as shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6. The inner chamber 20 of the vacuum storage system 40 is thus formed, with gasket seal 24 disposed between the tray rim 22 and the lid lip 23.

The inner chamber 20 is then inserted into the pouch 16, constituting the outer chamber of the vacuum storage system 40, as shown in FIG. 4. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the inner chamber 20 is inserted through the opening 17. The double zip seal 18 and the adhesive seal 19, are then used to seal the outer chamber 30. The vacuum storage system 40 is thus now fully formed, as shown in FIG. 8.

The evacuation valve 21 is then connected to a suction device (not shown) for evacuation of the outer chamber 30. Activation of the suction device evacuates the outer chamber 30, and the reduction in pressure in the outer chamber 30 causes the one-way valve 13 in the lid 12 to open, thus also resulting in evacuation of the inner chamber 20. The reduction in pressure also causes the pouch 16 to collapse around the inner chamber 20, thus urging the lid 12 onto the tray 10, and compressing the gasket seal 24, so as to seal the inner chamber 20.

The suction device is then deactivated and disconnected, and the evacuation valve 21 closed. Deactivation of the suction device also causes the one-way valve 13 to close, thus fully sealing the inner chamber 20. The vacuum storage system 40 of the present invention thus incorporates a fail-safe mechanism in that, even if the vacuum in the outer chamber 30 is compromised due to leaking of the seals 18, 19 or the valve 21, the inner chamber 20 will remain in an evacuated state due to the one-way valve 13 remaining in a closed position, and the compressed gasket seal 24. The endoscope within the inner chamber 20 can thus be stored in a viable HLDS condition for considerably longer than with conventional storage systems. 

1. A vacuum storage system for storing an article, comprising: a sealable outer chamber, having an evacuation valve for connection to a suction device for evacuation of said outer chamber; and a sealable inner chamber adapted to receive said article, and having a one-way valve in communication with the outer chamber, said one-way valve being adapted to open upon the application of suction to the outer chamber, thereby to enable evacuation of said inner chamber, but to close upon discontinuation of said suction.
 2. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner chamber comprises a tray and a lid.
 3. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the one-way valve is formed in the lid.
 4. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 2, wherein a gasket seal is provided between the tray and the lid.
 5. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the gasket seal extends around the perimeter of the tray, and is adapted to be compressed upon evacuation of the system.
 6. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the tray and lid are generally rigid.
 7. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the interior of the tray is shaped so as securely to house the article to be stored.
 8. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the outer chamber comprises a flexible pouch.
 9. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the outer chamber pouch has an opening to enable insertion of the inner chamber, said opening being provided with a zip seal and/or an adhesive seal.
 10. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 8, wherein in use, evacuation of the outer chamber pouch causes it to urge the lid onto the tray.
 11. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 10, wherein a gasket seal is provided between the tray and the lid, and wherein in use, evacuation of the outer chamber pouch causes it to urge the lid onto the tray, thereby causing compression of the gasket seal.
 12. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner and outer chamber are transparent.
 13. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the article to be stored is an article of medical equipment.
 14. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the article to be stored is a flexible medical endoscope.
 15. A vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an oxygen scavenging agent, provided within the inner chamber.
 16. A method of storing an article utilising a vacuum storage system as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps of: inserting the article to be stored into the inner chamber of said vacuum storage system; sealing the inner chamber; inserting the inner chamber into the outer chamber of said vacuum storage system; sealing the outer chamber; connecting the evacuation valve of the outer chamber to a suction device; activating the suction device so as to evacuate the outer chamber, and thereby to cause the one-way valve of the inner chamber to open, so as also to evacuate the inner chamber; deactivating the suction device so as to close the one-way valve, thus isolating the article in the evacuated inner chamber; and closing the evacuation valve, thus isolating the inner chamber in the evacuated outer chamber.
 17. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the article to be stored is an article of medical equipment.
 18. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the article to be stored is a flexible medical endoscope.
 19. A method as claimed in claim 16, further comprising an additional step of providing an oxygen scavenging agent within the inner chamber. 